Category Archives Class Action Fairness Act (CAFA)

The Class Action Fairness Act (“CAFA”) streamlines removal of cases to federal court if certain requirements are met. A court acquires federal jurisdiction over a class action with at least 100 class members, an amount in controversy in excess of $5,000,000 in the aggregate, and at least minimal diversity of citizenship—i.e. any class member with citizenship diverse from any defendant. …

On March 14, 2014, we wrote about a district court examining the merits of a plaintiff’s claims when addressing the amount in controversy requirement upon removal of a case from state to federal court. [Click here to view]. McDaniel v. Fifth Third Bank (M.D. Fla. Feb. 28, 2014). To recap, the plaintiff filed a class action complaint against Fifth Third Bank…

In McDaniel v. Fifth Third Bank, 2014 WL 805508 (M.D. Fla., Feb. 28, 2014) (McDaniel v Fifth Third), the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida remanded a class action back to Florida state court because it found that some of plaintiff’s claims were not viable as a matter of law and, therefore, could not be considered…

In Lemy v. Direct General Finance Co., 2014 WL 903371 (11th Cir. March 10, 2014) (Lemy v. Direct General Finance Co), the plaintiff filed a class action complaint in Florida state court alleging that the insurance company defendants acted in concert to sell a worthless insurance product to a class of plaintiffs in violation of the Florida Insurance Code. The…

Although plaintiffs’ counsel is naturally expected to communicate with putative class members, sometimes such communication is improper. In A.R. ex rel. Root v. Dudek, 2013 WL 5278668 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 19, 2013), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida determined that Plaintiffs’ counsel’s and other representatives’ e-mails to putative class members were not the type of …